Holly Van Hart exhibit at holiday open house

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Saratoga artist Holly Van Hart will be hosting a Holiday Open Studio Event this Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Saratoga. Gifts are available for every price point, starting at $50. (George Sakkestad/Staff Photographer)

Highlights

Most probably wouldn’t guess it from a cursory glance, but there is an international flair to Holly Van Hart’s artwork. A lot of the Saratoga-based artist’s works reflect her travels to well over 40 countries, and next year, some of her paintings will get to do some traveling of their own to be exhibited in shows overseas. But, for now they’re staying put at her home studio, where she is hosting a holiday open house Dec. 2-3.

Much of the content of her art is an “amalgamation,” she said, of all the things that are stuck in her mind while she’s on the road or long after she’s returned.

“When I go on vacations, I bring my paints with me, so some of the paintings were done on vacation,” she said. “The more recent ones are on the central coast of California. There were also some that were done last summer in Portugal.”

Next year, Van Hart has exhibitions lined up in Beverly Hills and Taiwan, and she plans to take along whatever doesn’t sell here at home. But, she’s giving “first dibs” to her hometown friends during a weekend-long open house, where she’ll be exhibiting about 50 items, including large and small paintings, prints, note cards and books. All of these items will be on sale for anywhere from $10 to $8,000.

The paintings, which for the most part are abstract landscapes, were mostly completed within the last year.

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“What’s different this year is I’ve been doing a lot of experimental work in my studio, so anybody who comes sees something brand-new that hasn’t been exhibited before or even on social media,” Van Hart said.

The artist will also be selling two self-published books, titled “Nature’s Inspirations” and “Abstracted Nature Paintings.”

This isn’t Van Hart’s first go at an open house during the holidays; she held one at her home last year, but it was an intimate gathering for friends and those on her mailing list. This time around, she’s opening her doors to the general public.

“I really love connecting with art lovers,” she said. “That’s my favorite part—just seeing people in the community, friends and other folks who like art and, you know, want to stop by and see (my work).”

Up until mid-2013, Van Hart worked as a high-tech sales operations director, but that year she left her job at Microsoft to pursue oil painting full time. The extra time has given Van Hart the opportunity to fully immerse herself in her artwork.

Admirers of her work will have several opportunities to view her works up close next year. In May, Van Hart will display her paintings at the Desta Gallery in San Anselmo and will participate in Silicon Valley Open Studios, an annual event when artists open their home studios to the general public, allowing them to converse with the artists and purchase artworks directly.

But the holiday open house is just around the corner, taking place Dec. 2-3, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and by appointment at 20830 Boyce Lane in Saratoga.

Her works can also be viewed on her social media accounts, facebook.com/holly.vanhart and instagram.com/hollyvanhart. For more information, visit hollyvanhart.com.

Khalida Sarwari covers the communities of Cupertino and Sunnyvale for the Bay Area News Group. A graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California, she started out as a breaking news reporter in San Francisco for Bay City News Service in 2007. Since then, she has covered a wide range of topics, including education, tech, local and national politics, development, crime and courts.

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